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The Most Important Number in Politics Today

The resignation hum is growing in South Carolina as Gov. Mark Sanford tries to weather the storm of his own making. AP Photo by Steve Helber

19

That's the number of Republican state legislators in South Carolina who have gone on the record to call for Gov. Mark Sanford to step aside in the wake of his disappearance and a series of admissions of dalliances outside of his marriage.

In addition to the 19 members of the state legislature calling for his ouster, six newspapers -- the Greenville News, the Rock Hill Herald, the Aiken Standard, the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, the Orangeburg Times and Democrat and the Charlotte Observer -- have also opined that Sanford's time leading the state is up.

Even Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C) seems to have turned the corner on Sanford, telling Fox & Friends this morning that "a lot of us are talking to him behind the scenes in hopes that he'll make the right decision about what needs to be done."

What all of the above means is that critical mass is rapidly being reached for a Sanford resignation.

What Sanford did in that interview was turn the debate from one that was beginning to center on Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer's readiness for the office -- a topic explored brilliantly by Phil "Bring the Ruckus" Rucker in today's Post -- back into a conversation about how a man who had misled his family and the people of South Carolina multiple times could remain in office.

Sanford's interview with the AP amounted to a political kamikaze mission that seems to suggest that the operative question now is not if he will resign but when he will resign.

Someone opined that: "Sure they are. Racists believe that members of the races they hate are inferior, are lower in intelligence, are genetically predisposed to crime, all of which are untrue."

Not necessarily...this is a very broad generalization. Racists come in lots of different sorts... they don't all regard the object ethnicity of their dislike as specifically inferior, less intelligent or disposed toward crime... there are lots of reasons a person might harbor racist notions or attitudes, including fear or simple ignorance, that don't require any feeling of superiority on the part of a particular racist.

Some racists don't hate (or even dislike) those about whom they have racist attitudes. For example, a person might believe that "all Jews [or Asians, or whatever] are smart", or that "all Irish have a great sense of humor"... these aren't particularly negative prejudices, and they don't involve hatred at all, but they are still racial prejudices, and a person who feels this way still falls within the definition of 'racist'.

However, the most troublesome forms of racism are exactly the ones chrisfox was talking about, and his overall point is still well-founded... irrationality IS part and parcel of racism. And I concede that some dictionaries define "racism" so narrowly that it does not encompass the whole range of racist attitudes, but I think that is a weakness of those particular dictionaries.

Chris .. OH GOD LORDY! SOMEONE NEEDS TO PUT A MUZZLE ON THIS MAN befor he hurts the Republicans further. Next I supposed he will metion hi un conditional love for his mistress and leaves his wife. This sound like the movie "Gone with the Wind" or "love Affair

• Bush-legacy extrajudicial targeting/punishment network makes a mockery of the rule of law at the grassroots-- violating civil and human rights.

• Is Team Obama unaware, naive -- or purposely misled by Bush holdovers?

President Obama is being co-opted into becoming the enabler of a federally-funded and overseen "multi-agency coordinated action" program of nationwide extrajudicial targeting and punishment...

...a vigilante Gestapo that is misusing federally-funded volunteer programs to subvert the rule of law -- deploying a civilian vigilante army that covertly implants GPS tracking devices to stalk, persecute, vandalize and harass unjustly targeted citizens and their families.

This secretive multi-agency "program" also misuses government surveillance operations to censor, and maliciously tamper with, the telecommunications of many thousands of the unjustly targeted -- and funnels surveillance data to citizen "gang stalker" harassers.

An array of "programs of personal financial destruction" decimates the finances of "target" families -- contributing to economic distress. And microwave "directed energy weapons" are being used to degrade their very lives -- a gross violation of human rights, government-enabled crimes against humanity.

And no authorities will investigate -- invoking the "Gulag" tactic of dismissing those who seek justice as "delusional."

Please, Team Obama: Wake up and smell the police state that is co-opting your administration and making POTUS a pitchman and enabler for an American Gestapo.

Can anyone tell us if and why it matters that there are two Democrats who may not be present to vote?"

Democrats only have 60 votes on the issues in which they all agree. That's not always a given. Sure, on the more moderate positions, they'd get Landrieu and Prior, but in those cases, they'd have a good shot at Republicans Gregg, Snowe, and Collins anyways.

I had a chance to meet Amy Klobuchar (now the SENIOR Senator from Minnesota!) and she was talking about how for a lot of what they wanted to pass, the Democrats only needed one or two more votes. (This was last year when Dems only had like 51 members)

Granted that the Republican contingent was a good bit more moderate at the time and there was a lot less pressure for Republicans to maintain that 100% cohesiveness, but this 60 vote thing is never a given. You're going to see all of what I've been talking about when debate starts on the climate change bill.

Hey kool_cat, lay off the comments about Sanford's South American girl friend.
She expected Sanford to be discreet, how could she know he was so lame.
Well, I guess she should have known anyone from S.C. couldn't be to sharp. Just listen to Lindsay Graham.

Is jaked still saying Sanford is no big deal and Kate and .. who is it jaked is getting a divorce???

Personally I think Sanford is trying to get his wife to publicly pull the plug on their marriage, he's done it privately, so he can say he tried to fall in love with his wife again... how can he say stupid comments like that????

jaked, Since you have such close feeling for Sanford, tell him to SHUT-UP.

@fairfaxvoter: I'd say you nailed it. I've been saying that Sanford has a screw loose and it continues to loosen. There's something clinically wrong with a guy who feels compelled to air confidences to strangers; it might be that narcisstic thing everyone yaps about these days, but distrusting as I do the lexicon of psychopathology in the popular mouth, I think it's something deeper.

This whole episode reeks of psychotic detachment. A governor jets off for a week, thinks he can cover his tracks with some story about hiking and a baseball cap, and when he comes back he's telling the world what's in his heart.

And that was a week ago,

He could have taken the Michael Jackson demise as an escape hatch but nooOOOooo, he's baaaaaaack, with ever more intimate confidences.

I think Chris has hit it on the head with the words "political kamikaze": "Sanford's interview with the AP amounted to a political kamikaze mission."

I doubt that Sanford consciously set out to do it on purpose, but at some level that interview made clear that he wants out, out, out -- of the marriage, the governorship, the national spotlight, and quite possibly South Carolina and the United States, an otherwise fine country that has the fatal flaw of not being Argentina. If he doesn't listen to himself, I can only imagine what hi-jinks his inner self will dream up next to get his attention and get him out of that job.

Surely I am not the only person who has tried hard to do something I absolutely don't want to, only to discover I have managed to do and say just what's needed to get out of it. That's all that is happening here -- Governor Sanford's subconscious has decided to join the chorus begging him to step down.

Hey Jake a note .. if you're trying to maintain the masquerade of being retirement age, so you can justify your sixteen-hours-a-day presence trolling here, you really should drop the emoticons and the "lol" and all that crap. Only kids write like that. I've never met anyone over 45 who uses that stuff.

Just sayin'. I'm pretty sure that it's SSI allows you to troll all day, not retirement after a lifetime of work. I don't believe that for a minute, and if you want others to, you'd better pick up some older jargon.

Actually, all I really want is for you to do some reading. You made yourself look like an idiot when you tried to do statistics and I don't even know statistics. Now you're venturing into an area of expertise of mine and from what you've written so far, an area which you know nothing about.

==

That's nothing. Take a look at Jakey on the Franken thread if you want to see turbo-charged ignorance!

Actually, all I really want is for you to do some reading. You made yourself look like an idiot when you tried to do statistics and I don't even know statistics. Now you're venturing into an area of expertise of mine and from what you've written so far, an area which you know nothing about.

It's the disappearance and dereliction of duty for the better part of a week.

And it's the incoherence, or extreme emotional deafness, or extraordinary narcissism, of a man who says he's trying to save his marriage, and goes on to say that his tryst was a matter of love, but he's now "trying to fall back in love with his wife".

This man clearly has issues, and the fact that he was unfaithful to his wife is the least of them.

Some day Republicans are going to realize that crying "Clinton, Clinton, Clinton" is no more good for their long-term prospects than was crying "Nigra, Nigra, Nigra" in 1964.

Meanwhile, Sanford has reneged on his promise to release financial records that would "prove" he didn't use state funds to visit his punch, I mean skank, I mean mistress, I mean soul mate, in Argentina.

"Sanford is a terrible governor and his resignation would remove from the public eye a potent example of how dangerous it is to our national safety to allow sanctimonious self-righteous, hypocritical Republicans into offices of public trust. So I want him to remain in office for as long as possible."

I agree with you there. I just feel sorry for the people in his state.

You asked my opinion about President Clinton resigning. It it precisely the same as I feel about Sanford resigning and for the same reason:

For the good of the nation, I did not wish either of them to resign. Clinton was a good president and his resignation would have been a serious misstep for the country. I wanted him to remain in office for as long as possible.

Sanford is a terrible governor and his resignation would remove from the public eye a potent example of how dangerous it is to our national safety to allow sanctimonious self-righteous, hypocritical Republicans into offices of public trust. So I want him to remain in office for as long as possible.

"Last year at the height of his “fame,” Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher — aka “Joe the Plumber” — said that he was considering a run for public office. “I’d be up for it,” he said. Excited fans even set up a “Draft Joe the Plumber” site. But in a new interview with WorldNetDaily, Wurzelbacher said that he now isn’t planning to run because God doesn’t want him to:

Asked if he has plans to run for public office, he replied, “I hope not. You know, I talked to God about that and he was like, ‘No.’”

JakeD and king_of_zouk, we are so lucky to have you. Your posts are like the proverbial "kick me" sign on your respective behinds. Golly, you guys get kicked everyday, and you two spin around in confusion saying "Who did that?"

king_of_zouk - Many of your posts are funny and your puns, especially with regards to people's "post names" are clever. However, the most recent one, referring to chris was not funny. It was insulting and rude and coarse and beneath you. Cut it out! Chris, if you'd spend 5 minutes actually reading his posts, actually agrees with you on many issues. Moreover, he is as talented as you when exchanging insults and is downright funny. Listen to him. You might actually like him.

And if a Democrat had done the same you'd be screaming for his imprisonment
>>>>>>>>>>>>>

don't you just love it whan a loony Lib proclaims what everyone else thinks and feels, just to justify their paranoid and hateful attitude. this is usually followed by the statment that you didn't go to college, you have no job, you are stupid, you don't understand, etc.

If they ever engaged on any facts, they would be laughed out of the room. better to inhabit the fantasyland where everything is paid for by "the rich".

In fact, the polls are diving as their views (not the empty promises) become known.

another look in the mirror moment for the resident moonbat. who would have ever thought that drivl could be considered mature and reasonable. I guess it depends on how many standard deviants are nearby.

I am aghast at suggestions that Sanford should resign. His persistance in the public arena is a resounding testament to the blind self-involvement and arrogance of Republican office holders and bloviators everywhere.

Every day the sanctimonious, hypocritical,and just plain weird Sanford remains governor of South Carolina is another day the voters of the United States can be reminded of the utter foolishness of letting any member of his party any where near a position of responsibility ever again.

I want Sanford to stay governor for as long as he can. He brings the Republicans that much nearer to total destruction.

I think the near-daily "most important number" notion is getting a little contrived. The number calling for Sanford's resignation, the number of words in the Vanity Fair article? These are not important as numbers.

What's important is that the calls for Sanford's resignation are coming from his own party, not only from Democrats who may conveniently be dismissed as partisan.

Gov. Sanford is not only politically damaged by this, he seems dangerously unstable. He needs to go, and he needs to get serious psychological counseling.

KOZ - chrisfox is a FRIEND. That trumps politics. Also, he is neither looney nor a fool. True, he is quite liberal as compared to m. So what? I'll defend him because I know what a decent man he is, even though I might not agree with him politically.

PRINCETON, NJ -- A Gallup Poll finds a statistically significant increase since last year in the percentage of Americans who describe the Democratic Party's views as being "too liberal," from 39% to 46%. This is the largest percentage saying so since November 1994, after the party's losses in that year's midterm elections.

An excellent analysis of the people and papers calling for Sanford to step down, but what exactly is the purpose of listing a North Carolina newspaper (The Charlotte Observer) that is sticking its editorial nose into a South Carolina problem?

==

Every newspaper editorial page is allowed to "stick its nose" into political affairs of the day.

An excellent analysis of the people and papers calling for Sanford to step down, but what exactly is the purpose of listing a North Carolina newspaper (The Charlotte Observer) that is sticking its editorial nose into a South Carolina problem?

I'd feel sorry for him but as it happens I'm gay and he's a "social conservative" who denigrates my relationships as inauthentic, so I am enjoying the sight of his career coming to a disgraceful close.

Sanford may be able to make a political comeback after a while, for the simple reason that all elected officials are lying hypocrites who abuse their public trust while in office, so what's the big deal about him being one of them, also?

No one in America who wins an election deserves to, because anyone who sincerely observes/follows moral values in his/her life would not be able to do what is necessary to get elected (lie to voters and the press, abandon long-time friends, attack opponents' character and families, kiss up to lobbyists for donations, and on and on). The process ensures we only wind up with scoundrels in office. Sanford doesn't stand out much compared to his peers.

But he did such a stunningly poor job of covering his tracks, and has made such a public display of private confidences, that I think it's an inescapable conclusion that something is seriously wrong with his mind.

A few years from now, Gov. Palin is going to have a lot more trouble feeling her childrens' love than Mark Sanford.

Just sayin'

Sanford is having a very public psychotic break. Were he someone who entrusted his counsel to say Sheppard Pratt, no one would think badly of him. But he surrounded himself with religious nutbars and wove right wing religiosity (I hate that word) into his mental disorder. Now he is making history. But it is, at least, authentic.

Palin on the other hand...

"The vitriol also suggests the degree to which Palin remains a Rorschach test not simply to Republicans nationally but within a tight circle of elite operatives and commentators, many of whom seem ready to carry their arguments in 2012. Was Palin a fresh talent whose debut was mishandled by self-serving campaign insiders, or an eccentric “diva” who had no business on the national stage? Going forward, does she offer a conservative and charismatic face for a demoralized and star-less party? Or is she a loose cannon who should be consigned to the tabloids where she can reside in perpetuity with other flash-in-the-pan sensations?"

chris, calling Sanford a "mental case" provides too easy an excuse. What he is, is one of our "power elite", an insider who thinks he is beyond the law, so much better than the common man and woman that he deserves a pass when it comes to right and wrong. He is the sort of monster that we have become too used to running this country. Instead of allowing this piece of subhuman trash to resign, he needs to go to prison. We ought to have stuck "Bubba" and Barney Frank in one, too. They can serve time along side Bill Gates, Madoff, and most of the rest of our Titans of Wall Street and "industry". So long as we tolerate these sociopaths and crooks, we will suffer as a people.

This story keeps bringing me back to politics and hypocrisy. I think that Gov. Sanford is dealing with his guilt by trying to be as open and frank as possible, and politics requires being a hypocrite. So, he's self-destructing.

If Gov. Sanford (a) willfully provided perjurious, false and misleading testimony, (b) willfully corrupted and manipulated the judicial process of the United States for his personal gain and exoneration, impeding the administration of justice, or (c) prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of justice, and has to that end engaged personally, and through his subordinates and agents, in a course of conduct or scheme designed to delay, impede, cover up, and conceal the existence of evidence and testimony, than I would call for his resignation as well.

"In a nationally televised event at the White House, Obama said families need better information so they don't unthinkingly approve "additional tests or additional drugs that the evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve care."

He added: "Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller."

There's an interesting contradiction here. According to the pro-choice perspective, it's outrageous for the state to interfere in a woman's decision to terminate a pregnancy. But it's pragmatic and reasonable for the state to consider terminating a person, if some money can be saved."
Posted by: king_of_zouk

There's a disconnect in King of Zouk's segue from families needing better information before they unthinkingly approve treatments to "terminating a personk if some money can be saved".

There was a series of articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer that began with reporting about a family whose son had terminal cancer, and their difficulty in obtaining hospice care for him based on keeping him comfortable and alert, rather than continuing "heroic" treatments that kept him physically miserable and emotionally distraught. This family was able to obtain hospice and alleviative care for their son, and certainly in this instance he was better off not taking the pill but rather getting pain medication.

All too many medical providers, for whatever reason, are inclined to recommend the newest treatment, the newest drug, intrusive tests, whether the tests are likely to reveal anything helpful and whether the treatment or medication are likely to bring about a positive change in the patient's condition. And, as is regularly reported in the news, all too often the newest drug/treatment turns out to not be effective.

What I don't understand, King of Zouk, is how you equate giving patients and their families sufficient information to make intelligent choices equals termination.

But then, I infer from your later posts that if it's Obama it has to be badk no matter how you have to distort events.

If Gov. Sanford (a) willfully provided perjurious, false and misleading testimony, (b) willfully corrupted and manipulated the judicial process of the United States for his personal gain and exoneration, impeding the administration of justice, or (c) prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of justice, and has to that end engaged personally, and through his subordinates and agents, in a course of conduct or scheme designed to delay, impede, cover up, and conceal the existence of evidence and testimony, than I would call for his resignation as well.

This Sanford saga is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. One knows that it's distasteful to gawk, but at the same time it IS difficult to tear oneself away. The POLITICAL element of yesterday's disclosures is, indeed, fascinating.

Much as I hate to play armchair Freud, it seems clearer and clearer to me that Gov. Sanford has some sort of subconscious wish to be freed from his public responsibilities so that he can indeed be free to move to Argentina to be with his 'soul mate'--I find it distasteful to use the 19th century term 'mistress', as if she were being kept by him, even though the media has focussed on that particular word.

No savvy politician in his right mind would admit all these details which have merely served to fan the embers back up into a conflagration--details, as we're all aware, that the public and media have no right to know.

I believe that Gov. Sanford is one of those who believes that 'confession is cleansing for the soul'. True, as one learnt back in parochial school, that may well make the INDIVIDUAL feel better, but how must it be for his poor wife to be confronted by this river of details? Or his sons? Or the Argentinian woman's two children?

To me, this compounds, not negates, his self-indulgent behaviour. And of course, it's the political kiss-of-death to his career.

You know Jake if Clinton had resigned, then most likely we would have had 4 more years of President Gore, then who knows if what the world would look like today.
The reason the GOP wants Sanford to resign is the SAME reason why alot of democrats wanted to Clinton to resign, because his continued presence in office hurts the party as a whole.

The only reason Bush won in 2000 was because he could run to bring "honor" back to the white house. (BTW That worked out REAL well didn't it). The Democrats in SC can use the same argument in 18 months if Stanford stays on for the rest of his term. And trust me that is the only was a democrat wins in SC.

I am a registered Democrat and voted for Bill Clinton twice. However, despite the unfairness of Ken Starr's Whitewater investigation suddenly transforming itself into an investigation of Bill Clinton's sex life (oh, wait...it wasn't about the sex, it was about the LYING...yeah, right), I do, in fact believe that Clinton should have resigned in the wake of the Monica scandal.

Why? Because while it was a personal failure for Clinton, it was a tremendous distraction for his presidency and for the nation, and we would have been better off with Al Gore at the helm.

I have no idea what the 2000 election would have looked like in that scenario, but I suspect things would have turned out better than they did.

Reporting from Washington — President Obama suggested at a town hall event Wednesday night that one way to shave medical costs is to stop expensive and ultimately futile procedures performed on people who are about to die and don't stand to gain from the extra care.

In a nationally televised event at the White House, Obama said families need better information so they don't unthinkingly approve "additional tests or additional drugs that the evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve care."

He added: "Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller."

There's an interesting contradiction here. According to the pro-choice perspective, it's outrageous for the state to interfere in a woman's decision to terminate a pregnancy. But it's pragmatic and reasonable for the state to consider terminating a person, if some money can be saved.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs yesterday on MSNBC, on when the public can judge the success of the stimulus: "I think we should begin to judge it now."

Reuters, today: "U.S. consumer confidence took an unexpectedly steep slide in June, figures released on Tuesday showed, suggesting the 18-month-long recession had yet to loosen its grip on the economy."

Chris, you learned your lessons in changing the subject from the Bush hacks. The most meaningful numbers are -2 and -9. Those are the Gallup numbers of, respectively, Obama and the Democratic Party and reflect a *disapproval* by the voting public. This collection of clodhoppers and crooks squandered and opportunity to actually get this country back to representing the American people. Instead, they were hijacked by a sickening coalition of looney single issue voting blocks and corporate interests.

We have thrown billions of dollars at banks, insurance companies, investors, corporations, who have turned around and ripped off consumers, treat this country like a piggy bank, and give NOTHING in return. Those Wall Street banks that received bail out money fired their American IT work force and replaced them with cheap and close mouthed Indian indentured servants on H1-B visas... and the Obama Administration issued those visas on an "emergency" basis. This wasn't a few jobs, either, it now totals more than 100,000 jobs! The number of H1-B visas being issued *exceeds*, by a factor of 2, the number of unemployed U.S. workers capable of filling those jobs! The jobs report out today is, "worse than expected", but no one is talking about the accelerating pace of outsourcing jobs to chap labor markets by U.S. businesses. The Democrats make this corporate treason possible and profitable by continuing the outrageous tax breaks given those companies, by not even charging duties and fees and tariffs on the goods and services that are due from those outsourced jobs. At the same time, they permit credit card companies, the whole financial services industry to defraud consumers, to play with interests rates and fees. Medical insurance companies commonly deny claims, have a whole host of Congressional created or allowed dodges that they use to avoid paying for the most critical of medical procedures. Nearly the whole of American business looks like some third world collection of criminal enterprises and, what is especially sad, we are so used to it that we think it is "normal". All of this, every stinking bit, is now owned by the Democratic Party. They got into office with promises to fix it, to return this country to the people. Instead, these vermin have merely replaced the Republican's in the feeding frenzy at the trough provided by the cockroaches that run the corporate and Wall Street world. They deserve to loose. The Republican's are no better, but at least these two collections of monsters serve to usually cancel each other out.

In other words, the explanation of the “do nothing in response to the Iranian uprising” policy is that breaking Israel comes first. Obama’s top priority is to create a Palestinian state now (regardless of its anti-Semitic policies and terrorist intentions); then, and only then, will dialoguing with Iran allegedly bear fruit.

To recap, take a Holocaust-denying president who has advocated genocide and the elimination of the Jewish state, a government hell-bent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction, said government’s brutal repression of its own people, and the subsequent “re-election” of the aforementioned maniac, and what do you get? A call from Obama to isolate this regime? An urgent campaign to impose harsh sanctions? Immediate support for the destruction of their nuclear sites before it’s too late? No. Obama’s focus is delivering Israel to the same Islamic audience he stroked in Cairo.

Obama’s emissaries confirmed the administration’s shocking priorities over the weekend. CBS’s Bob Schieffer asked Obama’s U.N. ambassador, Susan Rice, if we consider Iran’s government legitimate and whether we will still sit down with them. Rice answered: “Obviously the government’s legitimacy has been called into question by the protests. . . . But that’s not the critical issue in terms of our dealings with Iran.”

Rice’s hypocrisy is staggering. The same woman who, at the U.N., casts herself as a leading human-rights ambassador claims that the legitimacy of a government clinging to power as a result of murder and repression is not the issue. On the contrary, she took this moment to tell the butchers themselves that nothing had changed: “We will continue to pursue the offer [of] the P-5. . . . We have not rescinded that prospect. . . . We’ve left the door open to bilateral diplomacy.”

President Obama, the human-rights paragon, turns out to be the human-rights victim’s worst nightmare. The façade says he cares. But as soon as defending human rights proves inconvenient to his larger goal of rapprochement with Muslim dictators and “engagement” with fascists in Tehran, Gaza, Ramallah, and Damascus, he cuts and runs.